Sol-gel autocombustion synthesis of zinc oxide foam decorated with holes and its use as acetic acid gas sensor at sub-ppm level

Abstract Lately, only few successful gas sensors, especially those based on the sensing material of zinc oxide (ZnO), have been specifically designed for the detection of acetic acid. Herein, a new gas sensor aimed at acetic acid was designed employing a novel ZnO foam as the sensing material, which was prepared by a simple sol-gel autocombustion method. The foam presents a novel architecture decorated with numerous holes, and the designed gas sensor exhibits superior sensing performances toward acetic acid, i.e., a high response, sub-ppm detection, excellent selectivity, fine repeatability. These superior sensing performances could be attributed to the massive decorated holes, which significantly facilitates the gas diffusion and transportation.